Legalization of Medical Cannabis - EU Example

One of the most controversial topics of the last week, is a new initiative of the Georgian Government to legalize cultivation of medical cannabis and export it. This topic caused huge controversies in society, even Georgian orthodox church expressed its negative opinion about this new initiative, but the representatives of the ruling team state, that making new regulations and law, is their prerogative and it’s likely that Georgia will start cultivation of medical cannabis.

How can marijuana be medicinally used? When the cannabis plant, Cannabis sativa, is legalized for medical use, this means that authorities allow the distribution of the strains that contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the key psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

This includes cannabis extract in mouth sprays, dried cannabis flowers for brewing in tea or vaporizing, or capsules containing THC. For medical purposes, cannabis can be used as an alternative for other pain therapies, which may not be working or have strong side effects. People with chronic pain often experience strong side effects from their pain medications. These can be alleviated with cannabis. Amongst other indications, cannabis may also relieve symptoms of cancer patients and multiple sclerosis patients. For scientist and doctors alike, the legalization of medical cannabis is not only seen as a way of alleviating patients’ pain and other symptoms, but also as an opportunity to conduct more research into the topic.

Because of its medical benefits, EU countries started to legalize medical cannabis. In the EU, only Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Poland and Spain currently authorise marijuana's use as a medicine - while a few other states are planning legislation on the issue.

In March 2017, although Germany has one of the strictest narcotic drug laws in Europe, it was one of the first countries to legalize cannabis for medical use. The German parliament voted for the legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes. After one year from the decision other EU members such as: Portugal, Denmark, the UK joined Germany in this regard. Many other EU countries are considering legalizing medical cannabis.

Based on the medical cannabis consumption data in Germany after legalizing it, we can make assumptions about economic impacts. For example, before medical cannabis was legalized, patients who needed cannabis had to apply for a specific exemption, and because of the strict regulations, only about 700 people were granted the permission to use medical cannabis. But according to Germany’s health insurance companies reports, they have already received approximately 13.000 applications for reimbursement for the use of medical cannabis.

Therefore,medical cannabis export will bring economic benefits, but another important question arises: Who will be allowed to cultivate marijuana and sell it for medical purposes? For example, in Italy

The Italian Ministry of Health has been coordinating and monitoring the legalization process for medical cannabis. Since November 2015, it has had the power to distribute cultivation, production, possession and use permits.

As for Germany, the legalization process has been strictly performed and controlled by the government. Law firms, on the other hand, are responsible for advising companies, who want to import, cultivate and distribute cannabis in Germany.

But, despite all the benefits that cultivation of medical cannabis can bring to Georgia, it will be complicated for the government to adopt this initiative due to negative public opinion on the topic. As it was already mentioned, representatives of Georgian Orthodox Church openly expressed their negative attitudes towards the new initiative; therefore, legalization of medical cannabis cultivation will cost political points to the ruling team.